Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The Trifecta

The Trio


Finally finished the trifecta! Woo Hoo. Well... finished it quite a while ago, but it never seemed appropriate to post it.

To explain, I have an unusual mind-set of which I am rather proud, but it does create these obsessive fixations with particular imagery. Case in point - a bell jar. Stemming from the only passage in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar that really resonated with me. What it feels like and all. Wish I could quote it from memory but that just ain't gonna happen. Anyway - that image of being trapped in glass and it's uncannily accurate comparison to Depression with the capital D have stuck with me - even if the actual words have not. Visual learner here.

After a few sketches and mental calisthenics (the only kind you'll ever find me doing btw), I tripped right over my favorite interpretation of this idea - human as clapper. Unusual, see? But which style of crochet would best do it justice?

Upon contemplation of what exactly it is that I do with my hook, I realized that my work falls into three general categories and I took "the clapper" for a ride through all of them:

Filet Crochet
Hanging Clapper



Crocheted Applique'

Hanging Around


and Sculptural Crochet featuring small dolls

For Whom the Bell Tolls


When I turned to art and craft for life-support, I started out with filet work, but soon found it to be extremely time consuming and limited in it's ability to represent rounded images. I still love the way light passes through the finished pieces though and the way that highlights the blocked out images. I have plans for projects that allow me to further experiment with different thread colors and small glass beads to add detail, contrast and definition to the figures. But again, this requires a lot of time and focus and unfortunately that means waiting until I am in the mood to do filet work. That Muse is either shy or lazy but the end result is the same, I don't get around to these projects very often and they are currently in a bit of a backlog.

While experimenting with changing colors in the filet matrix I stumbled across the realization that I could assemble more intricate images out of applique motifs. Big ole Duh. I find that I love making these upscale fridgies. It feels like drawing with Crayons and building with Playdoh. This style of work is nostalgic playtime in a world filled with too much reality. This is currently the mode of expression that suits me best.

Having fought the instinct for years as a manifestation of immaturity, I have finally come to embrace in my advancing middle years that I have a strong whimsical streak that runs parallel with ones of melodrama and moroseness. I need to interpret the world in cartoon-y pictures that harken back to childhood where things were safe and happy and fun. My outlook is child-like, not childish. This distinction has made the difference between a life lived for exploration and one not lived at all.

So why did I bother to pursue the bell jar image in a 3D version? Sometimes, only a dolly with do. A clapper should clap or at least move and only 3D would let the clapper swing. More child-like play in a sea of cocked eyebrows. Do not care. I wasted my 20's striving to be what I should, my 30's in realizing I wasn't, and now in my 40's I just need to be - silly, melodramatic, inquisitive, morose, sarcastic, angry, happy, goofy ... alive.

Hook On!
C

No comments: